Implementation of the principles of sustainable development by agricultural producers in Poland

Purpose: The aim of the research is to identify and assess the opportunities and processes of implementing sustainable development in agricultural activities. It is also to assess farmers’ awareness and knowledge of the principles of sustainable development in agriculture. Design/Methodology/Approach: Research on the application of the principles of sustainable development in agricultural production was carried out in 2019. Data was collected in four voivodships using the interview questionnaire. The research area was chosen deliberately. They were voivodships with the largest share of sown crops. The collected material was analyzed in terms of farmers’ knowledge of the principles of sustainable development in agricultural production and the level of their application on the farm. Findings: Based on the collected information, it was found that the respondents had a high level of knowledge about the sustainable development of agriculture. The results show significant differences in the application of sustainable development principles. It was also found that there is a relationship between the level of education and age of farmers and the application of sustainable development principles among them. Knowing the principles of sustainable development has not always coincided with the application. Practical Implications: The results obtained may be used for development of the agricultural policy, aimed at agricultural farms, as well as in programming agricultural development and shaping farmers’ income. Originality/Value: The results are original because they can be used to develop future agricultural policy scenarios in terms of compensation for conducting agricultural production in a sustainable way.peer-reviewe

Co-financing of organic farming in the EU : necessity or fantasy?

Purpose: The purpose of the work is to analyse and assess the situation of organic farming in the EU, as well as the support system that is targeted at this type of activity. Design/Methodology/Approach: Organic farming has shown dynamic growth and development in the last two decades, especially in economically developed countries. The study concerns sources of support for the development of organic farming in EU countries. An analytical and descriptive method based on Eurostat Faostat, Polish FADN, Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Poland, as well as official documents and reports were used. The development of the number and area of organic farms was analysed, and mechanisms of financing ecological activity on farms were discussed. Findings: Based on the analysed information, it was found that organic farming is not developing in a similar way in all EU countries. The results of the analyses show that the main reason for conducting this type of production was the compensation paid to farmers under the CAP. Practical Implications: The obtained results can be used in analyses of agricultural policy in the scope of supporting farmers conducting production with the ecological system, considering the international perspective. Such studies are not carried out very often, and in addition, changes occur so quickly that the phenomenon should be monitored on an ongoing basis. Originality/Value: The results and conclusions are crucial because they indicate that the policy used is important and should be expanded. The legitimacy of using both the national and EU financing system for the development of organic farming has been demonstrated. Financial support should be more flexible and tailored to the needs of beneficiaries.peer-reviewe

Social e-atmospherics in practice (or not): a French and Turkish web designers’ perspectives

Little is known about the development of social e- atmospherics. And yet, e-atmospherics havemotivated an emerging body of research which reports that both better layouts and‘recognized’ atmospherics encourage consumers to modify their shopping habits. While the literature has analyzed mainly the functional (design) aspect of e-atmospherics, little has been done in terms of linking its characteristics’ to social (co-) creation. This paper attempts to redress the imbalance by exploring the anatomy from a website designer perspective of the social dimension of design in relation to e-atmospherics, which includes factors such as the aesthetic design of space and the influence of visual cues as a socially constructed meaning. We identify the challenges that web designers as social agents, who interact within intangible social reference sets, restricted by social standards, value, beliefs, status and duties, face daily within their work. We aim to review the current understanding of the importance and voluntary integration of social cues displayed by web designers from a mature market and an emerging market, and provides an analysis based recommendation towards the development of an integrated e-social atmospheric framework. Results report exploratory findings from questionnaires with 10 French and 16 Turkish web designers. These allow us to re-interpret the web designers’ reality regarding social e-atmospherics. We contend that by comprehending (before any consumer/client input) social capital, daily micro practices, habits and routine of designers, a deeper understanding of social e-atmospherics possible functions in the future will be unpacked

Targeting Nrf2-mediated gene transcription by triterpenoids and their derivatives

Chemoprevention represents a strategy designed to protect cells or tissues against various carcinogens and carcinogenic metabolites derived from exogenous or endogenous sources. Recent studies indicate that plant-derived triterpenoids, like oleanolic acid, may exert cytoprotective functions via regulation of the activity of different transcription factors. The chemopreventive effects may be mediated through induction of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) transcription factor. Activation of Nrf2 by triterpenoids induces the expression of phase 2 detoxifying and antioxidant enzymes such as NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) - proteins which can protect cells or tissues against various toxic metabolites. On the other hand, inhibition of other transcription factors, like NF-κB leads to the decrease in the pro-inflammatory gene expression. Moreover, the modulation of microRNAs activity may constitute a new mechanism responsible for valuable effects of triterpenoids. Recently, based on the structure of naturally occurring triterpenoids and with involvement of bioinformatics and computational chemistry, many synthetic analogs with improved biological properties have been obtained. Data from in vitro and in vivo experiments strongly suggest synthetic derivatives as promising candidates in the chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic strategies

Oligonucleotide Determination via Peptide Nucleic Acid Macromolecular Imprinting in an Electropolymerized CG-Rich Artificial Oligomer Analogue

We devised and fabricated a chemosensor for determination of the genetically relevant 5′-GCGGCGGC-3′ (G = guanine; C = cytosine) oligonucleotide. For that, we simultaneously electrosynthesized and electrode-immobilized a sequence-defined octakis­(2,2′-bithien-5-yl) DNA hybridizing probe using both a “macromolecular imprinting in polymer strategy” and a sequence-programmable peptide nucleic acid (PNA) template. With electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) transductions under stagnant-solution and flow injection analysis (FIA) conditions, respectively, we determined the above oligonucleotide with 200-pM EIS limit of detection. With its EIS-determined apparent imprinting factor of ∼4.0, the chemosensor was discriminative to both mismatched oligonucleotides and Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium sample interferences

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field